In the review of her new album, below, they compare Eliza Rickman to the likes of Kate Bush and PJ Harvey. And while I would somehow agree with that, she certainly has the talent, my first comparison would have been Laurie Anderson. Maybe it's just my ear.
Eliza is currently on a huge tour of the USA, dates and venues here, and sadly I missed her because it opened in San Francisco on March 1st.
Eliza Rickman hails from Los Angeles, CA. And her current band line up is:
Eliza Rickman- vocals, toy piano, piano, string arrangements, cat lady extraordinaire
Robert C.E. DeLong- drums/percussion
Brandon Shaw- upright bass
Eve Faley- bgv's
Alex Russell- violin
Caleb Russell- violin
Quinn Karges- viola
Karen Hall- cello
This is the title track from the new album, a live version.
O, You SinnersAt the Bootleg Bar 12/11/2011
And this will be track seven.
Pretty Little Headat Azusa Pacific University w/ her band, Aug 2010
Cinnamon BoneOfficial video
Black RoseOfficial video
I couldn't resist this one, it is a worthy contender in the coverage of this song.
I Put A Spell On YouEliza Rickman's orchestration of "Put A Spell On You".
There is always a hint of menace and reservoirs of force haunting the corners of Eliza Rickman’s voice, whatever register it occupies. Her presence on stage-whether she wears flowers in her hair, or stuffed birds; whether she plays a toy piano or a grand piano-is an enveloping, soft darkness, impossible to ignore. It is quite a surprise that Rickman didn’t even realize she could sing until after she earned a degree in orchestration from Azusa Pacific University, because her voice is the most enthralling and salient feature of any on the tracks from her new album ‘O, You Sinners’. And this is saying something, considering her deftness as a pianist and her subtlety as a composer. Like Kate Bush’s work, or like PJ Harvey’s album White Chalk, the arrangements on O, You Sinners are edged with dissonance. Like Andrew Bird, she favors pizzicato strings over junkyard percussion and complex lyrical melodies. Indeed, Rickman’s co-producer Mark Greenberg is a frequent contributor to Bird’s albums (as well as to Wilco’s ‘The Whole Love’ and to the Grammy Award-winning Mavis Staples’s album ‘You Are Not Alone’). Religious themes pervade Rickman’s work—her album is, after all, titled ‘O, You Sinners’. She is the daughter of a pastor, and started playing piano in church at the age of 13. But like one of her great influences- Nick Cave- her writing belies ambivalence about religion. Good and evil; love, both God’s love and carnal love; sinners and saints; desire and repentance, all find a place in Rickman’s songs. They lurk behind the scrim- whatever stage she sets. The coin of her realm is stamped with the will of God, and whether you are a doubter or a believer you must deal in her currency if you want her to ferry you ashore. “O, you sinners” she sings, “hear me.” And how could we not listen?
Track listing
1. Black Rose [02:57]
2. Devil’s Flesh & Bones [03:44]
3. Over Cold Shoulders [03:55]
4. Through An Aquarium [04:08]
5. Cinnamon Bone [03:09]
6. O, You Sinners [03:23]
7. Pretty Little Head [03:50]
8. Start With Goodbye, Stop With Hello [03:53]
9. White Words [03:14]
10. Coming Up Roses [05:17]
11. Into My Arms [04:24]
